The passenger compartments in most motor vehicles are equipped with sun visors which can be positioned against the windshield or a side window to protect the occupants' eyes from the sun. When the visor is no longer required, it can be stored against the headliner of the vehicle. Typically, the sun visor is covered with a material similar to the headliner material or other upholstery in the vehicle so that it blends in with the surrounding material and is esthetically pleasing.
A standard method of assembling sun visors is to mold a visor core in one piece with an integral hinge (living hinge) disposed between two symmetric halves. Various component parts such as a mounting arm are attached to the visor core. Decorative cover material is then applied to the exterior surfaces of the core, and attached thereto by adhesive or an equivalent bonding technique, around the interior edges of the core. The entire assembly is then folded shut by pivoting the covered core halves about the living hinge. The halves are permanently bonded together using a suitable adhesion process such as fusion bonding.
Another method of assembling a sun visor is to first manufacture the visor core in two separate halves. Component parts are attached to the separate halves, and the external surfaces of each half are covered with decorative cover material which is attached by adhesive or an equivalent bonding technique around the interior edges of the halves. The two halves are then permanently bonded together using a suitable adhesion process such as fusion bonding.
In both of the aforementioned prior art methods of visor assembly, the visor core and the decorative cover cannot be separately assembled. Assembling the visor core separately from the decorative cover would eliminate a step from such prior art assembly processes; the decorative cover material would not have to be attached around all the interior edges of the visor core prior to assembly of the core. Eliminating a step from the visor assembly process would reduce the time required for assembly, and the reduced time and material required for assembly would reduce the cost of manufacturing the visor. Separate assembly of the core and the decorative cover would also allow the preassembly of the decorative cover with neat, clean seams rather than the less attractive appearance of material clamped between two visor core halves. Provision of a sun visor with the refined appearance of neat, clean seams is important in the luxury automobile industry because of the intense competition for sophisticated and demanding consumers.